This
project started out as a completely trashed mid-1970s Raleigh Grand
Prix ten-speed, built in Holland, that I got from a guy who found
it at a police auction (first photo is "before", others are "after").
The chainstays and seatstays were bent, and my brute-force realignment
efforts worked out perfectly. I stripped the paint and put on several
coats of black, followed by clear coat and a lot of rubbing out
for a very nice finish. Old Raleighs had non-standard bottom bracket
threading that proved to be too expensive to adapt, so I kept the
original steel cottered crank and 40-tooth chainring (coupled with
a 15-tooth freewheel. The 700C wheels are from a Specialized Langster,
and required new long-reach calipers in place of the old Weinmann
center-pulls. I cropped the original drop bars and flipped them.
The bike is very comfortable and a blast to ride.